When five of its graduates built companies based on smart devices last year, Boomtown Boulder took a hint and embraced the technology known as the Internet of Things.

By May, the tech accelerator plans to open what is possibly the area’s first Internet of Things Lab targeting startups and entrepreneurs who want to make devices, apps and software for the space. Comcast Labs, a partner, is providing experts, resources and broadband, plus an undisclosed amount of money.

Boomtown Boulder’s 5,500-square-foot space will be split between the existing tech accelerator and a new Internet of Things lab. Image courtesy of Boomtown.

“In the future, even if you believe you are just an Internet or a mobile app company, you’re going to have to make sure your technology plays with this myriad of new platforms and devices,” said Toby Krout, Boomtown’s managing director. “We think it is our responsibility to have a lab where our companies have a place to work on the protocols. We’re planning for the future.”

Chui, a 2014 Boomtown accelerator graduate, is working on a smart doorbell that will recognize homeowners using facial recognition.

IoT labs are sparse but not unheard of. A handful of universities , private companies and other efforts offer resources to students and companies wanting to test out devices and software.

Boomtown’s building, at 2060 Broadway, currently serves as a coworking space and a spot for companies in its accelerator, a 3-month program for tech startups that occurs twice a year. Prior to 2014, it was a coworking space known as Scrib.

The new lab will be housed in the existing 5,500-square-foot facility. “We had more space than we needed for an accelerator,” Krout said. Read more…

Tamara Chuang covers personal technology and local tech news for The Denver Post. She previously spent 10 years doing the same thing for The Orange County Register before taking a hiatus to move here and become a SAHM to a precocious toddler.